Meteorus, Haliday, 1835

Aguirre, Helmuth & Shaw, Scott R., 2014, Neotropical species of Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Meteorinae) parasitizing Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae), Zootaxa 3779 (3), pp. 353-367 : 354

Key for the Neotropical species of the genus Meteorus parasitoids of caterpillars of Arctiinae

(Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae)

1. Notauli deeply impressed and distinct ( Fig 30 ).............................................................. 2

- Notauli shallow and not distinct ( Fig. 7 ).................................................................... 3

2(1). Ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along anterior ½ of segment, pronotum orange, wings hyaline...................................................................................... M. mirandae n. sp. ( Figs. 19–22 )

- Ventral borders of first tergite separated basally and joined apically, pronotum black, wings infuscated.............................................................................................. M. oreo Jones ( Figs. 29 and 30 )

3(1). Occipital carina incomplete dorsomedially.................................................................. 4

- Occipital carina complete dorsomedially................................................................... 5

4(3). Mesonotal lobes black-dark brown; notauli, scutellum and area between lobes, yellow; mesopleuron laterally yellow, ventrally dark brown.................................................................... M. juliae n. sp. ( Figs. 13–16 )

- Mesonotal lobes and mesopleuron totally yellow............................................................. 6

5(3). Propodeum orange or yellow............................................................................ 7

- Propodeum black-dark brown or ferruginous................................................................8

6(4). Vein m-cu of forewing antefurcal, head height 1.4–1.5 x eye height, ovipositor length 1.7–1.8 x first tergite length........................................................................................ M. margarita Jones ( Fig. 28 )

- Vein m-cu of forewing interstitial, head height 1.6–1.7 x eye height, ovipositor length 2–2.2 x first tergite length...................................................................................... M. quasifabatus Jones ( Fig. 32 )

7(5). Mandibles twisted, temple length 0.3–0.5 x eye length in dorsal view, ocellus ocular distance 0.8–1.2 x ocellar diameter................................................................................ M. laphygmae Viereck ( Fig. 27 )

- Mandibles moderately twisted, temple length 0.6–0.7 x eye length in dorsal view, ocellus ocular distance 1.4 x ocellar diameter............................................................................ M. porcatus Jones ( Fig. 31 )

8(5). Tarsal claw simple, longitudinal and transversal carinae on propodeum present... M cecavorum Aguirre & Shaw ( Figs. 5–8 )

- Tarsal claw with a large lobe, longitudinal and transversal carinae on propodeum absent.............................. 9

9(8). Pronotum, mesonotum, mesopleuron and metapleuron mostly ferruginous............. M. arizonensis Muesebeck ( Fig. 26 )

- Pronotum dorsally black, ventrally yellow; mesonotum mostly black-dark brown; mesopleuron and metapleuron mostly yellow............................................................................ M. anuae n. sp. ( Figs. 1–4 )

Figures

FIGURES 26–30. 26) M. arizonensis female lateral habitus, 27) M. laphygmae female lateral habitus, 28) M. margarita female lateral habitus, 29) M. oreo male lateral habitus, 30) M. oreo mesonotum with distinct notauli.

FIGURES 5–8. M. cecavorum. 5) Female, habitus lateral view, 6) male, habitus lateral view, 7) female, mesonotum and head dorsal view, 8) female, head frontal view.

FIGURES 19–22. M. mirandae n. sp. 19) Female, habitus lateral view, 20) male, lateral view, 21) male, mesonotum dorsal view, 22) male, head frontal view.

FIGURES 13–16. M. juliae n. sp. 13) Female, habitus lateral view, 14) male, habitus lateral view, 15) female, habitus dorsal view, 16) female, head frontal view.

FIGURES 31 & 32. 31) M. porcatus female lateral habitus, 32) M. quasifabatus female lateral habitus.

FIGURES 1–4. M. anuae n. sp. 1) Female, habitus lateral view, 2) male, habitus lateral view, 3) female, habitus dorsal view, 4) female, head in frontal view.